Happy New Year

Last night at midnight, we kissed, and then my husband jumped up off the couch.

“Oh! I almost forgot a tradition!”

He went into the kitchen and returned with the dog’s water bowl.

“What in the world are you doing?” I asked as he headed towards the front door.

The niños watched him, giggling. Even the dog stared at him, perplexed. He opened the front door and tossed the water outside. The dog looked at me and I shrugged.

“There,” he said satisfied, as he returned to the kitchen to give the dog fresh water. “You toss out the old and start new.”

“That’s a tradition in El Salvador?” I asked as the niños continued giggling.
“Yes,” he said, turning off the faucet and setting the bowl back on the floor.
“You throw the dog’s drinking water out the door?”
“Nooo,” he said, finally understanding our confusion and laughter. “Any bowl of water. That one was just sitting there, so…”
“Ah, okay… Um, Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year!”
“To health, happiness, prosperity… and fresh dog water.”

@ Blo – In the United States, we call this “eviction” … Hee hee. Just kidding. Seriously, I didn’t know of this Italian tradition so thanks for sharing it! It’s making me imagine a Federico Fellini-style scene with all sorts of things flying, drifting, floating through the air, being thrown out of doors and windows along the street.

LOL, Rudy. This is from 2010. For some reason it was in “drafts” and I noticed that today. I had to re-publish it. You must have seen it come through in E-mail when I did that – but this is not new and it’s not for 2011! :)